IT (information technology) systems, subsystems, applications, etc., such as operating systems, development environments, Java environments, database systems among many others (also referred to herein as dump/log sources), create highly technical information in a form of so-called dump and log files (dump/log files). Dumps are created in such environments, for example, in case of runtime problems and errors in order to support any required problem determination and analysis (e.g., debugging). Log files are correspondingly created to protocol any activity (e.g. a firewall creates a log on all in-coming and out-coming activities). For the purpose of problem and error determination, dump/log files are exchanged in-house or with third-parties, such as software vendors and developers.
Even these files look highly technical and seem only to include “worthless” information for non-specialists; they represent a high risk to expose critical and confidential information to third-parties without knowing about this risk. Often it is their large size making any checking almost impossible. For example, “full system dumps” created by an operating system can be several gigabytes large. Dump and log files may include currently processed customer data, such as documents, names, bank accounts, credit card numbers, social security numbers, media data (images, sounds, movies), or SQL statements including passwords, etc. From a specialist's point of view, dump and log files may provide sufficient information on security mechanisms and software installed to perfectly plan an attack, or to extract critical and confidential information for misuse.